Tax & Trade Blog

As we have blogged about several times in the past, homebuilders are frequently in the gunsights of CRA in hopes of capturing potentially unremitted GST/HST on sales made the course of their commercial activity.

A less-explored issue is how CRA sometimes casts too wide a net, and mistakenly assesses unlucky individuals who are not builders, but whose facts may suggest otherwise. The recent case in Wang v. The Queen, 2021 TCC 86 (CanLII) deals with this issue and serves as a cautionary tale for individuals in the unfortunate position of staring down a CRA assessment on the unplanned sale of their new home.

It seems that the only thing hotter than inflation these days is CRA’s auditing and assessments in missing traders, carousel schemes and shams. Affected industries so far include telecom, gold and precious metals, diamonds and precious gems – and even include mom-and-pop start-ups in the home-made muffins industry.   Left unchallenged, these assessments can invariably lead to corporate bankruptcy and insolvency and, more problematically, can involve personal assessments of directors, spouses and children!

After our February blog post, the Department of Finance finally released draft legislation for its “luxury tax” on vehicles, aircraft and vessels (“items”). Assuming it is passed, the Select Luxury Items Tax Act (“SLITA”) is scheduled to come into force on September 1, 2022. Any business selling items to which SLITA applies will have to register with the federal government, pay the luxury tax, and file quarterly returns!

Taxpayers who seek to challenge tax assessments made by the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) usually have the right to file a Notice of Objection (“Objection”), and those Objections are usually due within 90 days of the mailing date of the assessment.

Objection is the first and most important step of the taxpayers appeal process for any tax assessment, and the 90-day deadline generally should not be missed. For taxpayers that have missed the 90-day deadline, all hope is not lost, as there are special rules that might allow for a late-filed Objection. Taxpayers seeking to benefit from these rules should generally seek legal advice to understand and select the most appropriate next steps!

In December 2021, the Department of Finance (“DOF”) released its draft Digital Services Tax Act (“DSTA”) announced in the 2021 Federal Budget. The proposed tax will impose a 3% digital services tax (“DST”) on large businesses providing taxable digital services to Canadian users – mirroring recent efforts discussed at the OECD to address the tax challenges of the digital economy.

While the DOF indicates that these measures will not be imposed earlier than January 1, 2024, and only if the treaty implementing the OECD Pillar One tax regime has not come into force, taxpayers should prepare for these changes now, since the revenue calculation requirements start as early as January 2022!